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'90210' star Matt Lanter talks about the future of Liam and Naomi

September 15, 2009 | 11:03
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Liam is the X-factor this season on "90210", I’m sure of it. In last season’s finale, he was calling all the shots with Naomi – dangerous drag races, car hood sex, and then sleeping with the “sis-emy” (Liam, you skank!). Then, in the final moments of the show, and in his own bed for a change, Liam was kidnapped.

And whom did we meet during last week's Season 2 premiere? A softer, more docile Liam, just out of military camp. Naomi, fresh from older-manville, admitted she wasn’t over him. Has he really been tamed, or is Liam just a caged tiger?

Matt Lanter, who plays the jaded heartthrob, says we probably shouldn’t come to any conclusions about Liam just yet. “We’re actually not sure how it has affected him,” explains the Atlanta transplant. “There was actually some discussion before we started the season about how this would change him for the better, maybe not for the better, maybe not change him at all. I think the verdict is still kind of out.”

Liam may be lying low for a little while longer too. “He’s still the same guy; I just think he is trying to reserve the anger a little bit,” Lanter says. “It might offer a little more substance, a little more depth, a little more masking the emotions, which is kind of cool.”

But the actor can’t say the other characters are holding anything back. How long can Liam stay cool with Jen Clark, Naomi’s sister, bossing him around? “Of course Naomi’s sister is one person she really trusts,” explains Lanter. “So, it’s a really sensitive topic, and he is trying to find a way around it. So we are going to see in the next episode and in episodes to come how he deals with that — how it affects him and Naomi, and also him and Jen and some other people too.”

Wait. Other people too?

“I don’t want to give too much away,” Lanter admits. “But eventually we start to see how that affects Matthews, how it affects his future, and actually also a couple of the other students too. They have to get in on it.”

As for Jen's deal, Lanter certainly has his opinions: “She’s got to go -- somehow. I’m just not sure how yet.“

You may not have recognized Lanter before he showed up at West Bev, but he has been motoring around L.A. for a while. He moved here in 2004 when he made it onto Bravo’s male-modeling competition, “Manhunt.” It may not have earned him an acting trophy, but he definitely won some attention. Lanter says that his manager spotted him on the show.

He's currently starring in “Sorority Row,” a horror film about a clique of girls whose secrets come back to haunt them.

“I’ve been here in L.A. for almost five years, and I’ve actually worked pretty consistently,” explains the 26-year-old. He hasn’t tired of the extra attention either. “I think it’s fun,” Lanter says. “And it’s fun for fans to see someone out and about, a character they enjoy on TV. And I get a lot of love on my official MySpace, and people comment and say a lot of great things, you know, just how they dig the show and dig the character, so it’s fun. It kind of comes with the territory.”

“I have an official MySpace – myspace.com/mattlanter – and that one is mine.” It turns out there are fake Facebook and Twitter accounts out there. “I guess imitation is a great form of flattery. But I hate when people trick other people into thinking they are talking to you.” And, sorry everyone, but despite what it says on the “Fakebook” page, Lanter isn’t looking – he’s in an exclusive relationship.